Glendale Centerline revitalization presses onward

Jivemind music incubator a bright spot

A venture to foster musicians is opening this month at the former home of the defunct Bead Museum in downtown Glendale.

Jivemind Cooperative Music Labs, which is moving from downtown Phoenix, will provide musicians with a place to practice, get lessons and record their music in a studio.

It's a bright spot in the city's Centerline revitalization efforts. The ill-timed campaign to rejuvenate the area along the city's namesake street was launched shortly before the recession. The stalled economy has dampened some plans, although the music incubator offers signs of progress.

Jivemind's Jeff Rose praised the walkability of the city's downtown, with its collection of shops and restaurants.

"It may be old, but it's got a really nice vibe," he said.

Glendale is banking on people like Rose to invest in its Centerline project, which envisions Glendale Avenue from 43rd to 67th avenues as a pedestrian-friendly urban village with dining, entertainment, retail shops and housing.

Rose said moving Jivemind to an area in need of sprucing up wasn't a deterrent.

Rather, "it's a big attraction," he said, noting that the area is a high priority for the city.

City Centerline efforts

Glendale leaders undertook the Centerline project about five years ago.

Chief on the city's to-do list at the time was the construction of a courthouse to spur development along the corridor that was a thriving "auto row" before the dealerships moved closer to freeways.

In summer 2008, a wrecking ball knocked down the former Larry Miller Toyota dealership that sat vacant at 47th and Glendale avenues for nearly five years.

The city planned a $44 million, municipal courthouse on the nearly 7-acre site.

Then the housing market collapsed, along with the city's plans to open the courthouse by 2010. The coming year's proposed capital-improvement plan shows the courthouse to be at least five years out.

A tarp-covered chain-link fence surrounds the courthouse site, shielding mounds of dirt from the public's view.

"We wanted to anchor the east end of Centerline by building a very nice city court complex," planning director Jon Froke said. "Unfortunately, it was a casualty in the downturn of the economy."

It's a sore point for the city's elected officials.

Mayor Elaine Scruggs said the city's current courthouse is overcrowded and "at any given day, the (state) Supreme Court can say, 'Fix it.' "

Until property values increase, and thus property-tax hauls, the city's hands are tied.

The unbuilt courthouse also rubs on Councilman Phil Lieberman, who represents the area.

"I have a courthouse that desperately needs to be built," the Cactus District representative said. "The only thing they put together in my mile (from 43rd to 51st avenues) is a Police Department special unit."

He questions how the city could spend millions on its hockey arena but find no money for the courthouse.

"What have they done to create an interest?" Lieberman has asked. "How about condos? How about lofts? How about finishing the courthouse? How about doing something so there will be a draw?"

Development stalls

But private development was clobbered by the recession, too.

Two parcels totaling 29 acres at 47th and Glendale avenues, adjacent to the courthouse site, are set for a trustee sale June 1, according to foreclosure trustee Engelman Berger.

Missouri-based TriStar Properties, which owns the property, did not return a call for comment.

Froke said TriStar purchased the land, seeing a synergy with the city's planned courthouse.

"The TriStar property is in the same economic situation that everybody is enduring in the U.S. in the housing market," Froke said. "We were hoping that TriStar would have the ability to find the right residential development to build urban-style housing on the property. When the condo market tanked, the project never really materialized."

Plans were similarly shelved by Scottsdale-based Vanguard City Home, which was going to develop townhomes near Myrtle and 58th avenues.

Vanguard planned to build the downtown's first major housing project in 50 years, including renovation of the historic Southern Baptist Church of Glendale into shops and restaurants.

Michael Trailor, a minority partner with Vanguard, said there are no plans to move forward given the state of the market.

"There's not much that can be done with it right now," he said. "It's hard to tell how the market is going to recover, so it's hard to project at this point what will happen with the property."

Moving forward

Despite the economic reshuffling of plans, the city is paving the way for future development.

The City Council last year adopted more-flexible zoning for Centerline that allows for such projects as taller buildings and higher-density development.

Froke is optimistic.

The planning director said his department is working on 16 development projects in Centerline.

One of the projects includes construction of the Blue Myrtle House Farmers Market, opening in the fall in Catlin Court. The indoor farmers market will be at 5807 W. Myrtle Ave., at the site of a historic bungalow that burned several years ago.

Glendale resident Dan Cunningham purchased the property and is rebuilding facilities for the market, which also will feature paraphernalia of early airlines, similar to TGI Fridays restaurants.

The Gas Light Inn, which went dark more than two years ago when the property fell into foreclosure, is again a place for wine and live jazz music. The 1926-era inn reopened late last year with new owners who plan to add a steakhouse and coffee shop this year.

Farther east, near Glendale and 52nd avenues, the historic Beet Sugar Factory, which has sat empty for years, should become a premium liquor distillery with a tasting room. City staff is waiting for owner Ray Klemp's second submission of construction drawings for the factory.

The city also is nurturing the arts, including First Saturdays.

Vendors sell antiques, art and crafts at stalls downtown one Saturday a month and pop-up galleries display temporary exhibits in public gathering spots in Centerline.

"There's a lot of synergy realized in Centerline over the last year," Froke said. "We get inquiries every week from people sniffing around after looking at the success of Centerline."

Chris Landrus (left) and Scot Padgett of Redden Construction Inc. work on the Blue Myrtle House Farmers Market, opening in the fall in Catlin Court in Glendale.

More on this topic

Centerline occupancy rates

The Centerline Project is the city's revitalization effort along the Glendale Avenue corridor from 43rd to 67th avenues between Myrtle and Ocotillo avenues.

Industrial: 95 percent occupied.

Office: 84 percent occupied.

Retail: 84 percent occupied.

Source: Glendale.

Projects occurring in Centerline

Here's a look at just some of the projects happening in the Centerline area.

La Condesa Gourmet Taco Shop, an existing building at 5932 W. Glendale Ave., will be refurbished and scheduled to open in November.

The foreclosed Norwood Village Apartments, 6738 N. 45th Ave., a 115-unit complex, will be rehabilitated. The site will offer services, including before-and-after school programs, computer classes, financial literacy and parenting classes to residents. To be completed in November.

Vacant Denny's restaurant, 4303 W. Glendale Ave., will be redeveloped with a new prototype Circle K convenience store and gas station. Circle K also will pay for a "Welcome to Glendale" entry monument on site.

Brelby Theater Company, a local theater troupe, is in negotiations to open operations at 5753 W. Glendale Ave.